Mets right fielder Michael Conforto at Citi Field on Sept....

 Mets right fielder Michael Conforto at Citi Field on Sept. 29, 2019 Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke

During this pandemic-induced baseball hiatus, we examine the Mets as an organization, position by position. Today, rightfield.

The starter: Although Michael Conforto has not lived up to the perhaps unfair expectations heaped upon him as a first-round pick who shot through the minors and homered (twice) in the World Series the year after he was drafted, his play provides occasional reminders: He is good.

Conforto will be the Mets’ rightfielder if and when there is a 2020 season, and the team’s strong preference is to let him stick to that one spot (as opposed to bouncing around the outfield, as he did earlier in his career). That was the plan last year, too, but he ended up in centerfield for 39 games because of injuries to others.

Last season, he hit a career-high 33 homers and had an above-average slash line of .257/.363/.494. But as he arrived in Port St. Lucie this February, he returned to a theme he has touched on periodically in recent years: He really, truly believes he can do better.

“I’m really excited to build on last year,” Conforto said Feb. 11. “I still have some potential that’s untapped.”

In the past, Conforto has referenced dealing with bad habits that developed as a result of coming back too quickly from September 2017 shoulder surgery, which ended his best (and only All-Star) season. He hasn’t reached that .279/.384/.555 peak since.

But Conforto has been healthy and reliable since his early 2018 return, averaging 152 games the past two seasons. His only trip to the injured list was for a May 2019 concussion, and he missed nine days.

“My goal is to go out there and help the team win,” Conforto said. “I do that by staying on the field and being healthy and being a guy in the middle of the order that gets on base and drives guys in, uses the whole field and continues to do the things that I do when I’m playing well. Consistency is key, and I’m trying to be as consistent as I can be this year.”

The other options: Conforto’s right oblique strain in March made him questionable for the original Opening Day, giving the Mets a very real look at what they would do without him.

The possibilities were aplenty. Third baseman Jeff McNeil could shift to right, as he did with aplomb at points last year. Brandon Nimmo could fill in for Conforto, with defensive ace Jake Marisnick plugging the hole in center. Leftfielder J.D. Davis, who has a strong arm and pitched in college, could relearn rightfield, a position with which he has dabbled (and, at one point last year, a position with which he had a greater degree of comfort than leftfield).

Under expanded-roster scenarios in a shortened 2020 season, outfielder Ryan Cordell has a decent chance of making the team. Cordell, 28, a non-roster invitee, made a good impression during spring training.

Conforto’s oblique shouldn’t be an issue upon baseball’s return.

The future: Conforto’s Mets future is unclear. He is scheduled to be a free agent after the 2021 season. But with the shutdown crushing the bottom line for the Mets and others, teams are not expected to spend as much in the next offseason or two as they would have otherwise.

Might Conforto be willing to take a more team-friendly extension? Would the Mets even offer such a deal? The latter depends heavily on the ownership situation — the Wilpons are looking for a buyer — and long-term contracts are very unlikely until that is resolved.

If Conforto doesn’t stay with the Mets, the above names could work (and create a hole elsewhere on the diamond): McNeil, Nimmo, Davis.

The Mets don’t have any outfield prospects anywhere close to the majors. One interesting name to keep in mind for several years down the line is rightfielder Freddy Valdez, 18. He was the organization’s Dominican Summer League hitter of the year in 2019.

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